Sports
Basketball

Niagara hosts reigning champions Saturday at Meridian Centre

The roster is set as season number three of Niagara River Lions basketball is set to tip off Saturday night at Meridian Centre.

The River Lions welcome the defending National Basketball League of Canada champion London Lightning in their regular season and home opener.

“You go to camp and start going at each other because of the competition all the time,” head coach Joe Raso said after three hard weeks of what he called “training camp” that officially began in late October.

“We need to be play against someone else.”

The Lions worked out for three hours a day at Ridley College, and Raso was impressed with the mix of players he put through their paces.

“What stood out is the blend of veteran and young guys,” Raso said. “The veterans held their ground, and the young guys pushed them.”

Twelve players have officially been named to the opening night roster, including four returnees.

Rocca is in fact one of six Canadians, and three Carleton University graduates, on a roster which includes Connor Wood.

Wood, the reigning USports (Canadian University) player of the year chose the Niagara River Lions over playing professionally in Europe.

“It was huge,” Raso said of Wood’s decision. “We want to keep the best Canadian talent here, and credit to Connor who did his homework.

“He looked at the quality of players on this team and he knew he wasn’t going to go to a team with better talent.

“I think it was like Connor’s decision to go to Carleton rather than go to a Division 1 (NCAA) school.

He said – ‘I know what I’ve got here and I can succeed with it.’

“I was really happy he made that decision.

“We have six Canadians on the roster right now and we can put a combination of any five of them on the floor and we would be a very good group.

“I like the quality of players on the team. I don’t think there’s a distinct separation between Americans and Canadians, I just think we have lots of parity.”

Wood , like Rocca, is one of six guards listed on the opening night roster that could be interchangeable, according to Raso.

“What impressed me the most is the parity that exists on this roster – one through 12. That bodes well for us. Either we’re all bad or we’re all pretty good.

“The part that I’ve been really happy with is that we’ve all been shooting the ball well, at four and five different positions sometimes.”

Raso has yet to commit to a starting five, stating that who finishes the game is more important than who starts it.

“Starting five is something that should change a lot. Competition at and in practice will determine who’s starting. The important thing is who’s finishing,” said Raso who went on to mention some of his standouts through camp.

“Sam Muldrow is even a better shooter than I thought he was.

“Omar Strong (guard. Texas Southern University) is even more dynamic at point-guard than I thought he was.

“Marvell Waithe (forward, Toronto native and University of Arkansas product) might be a better scorer than I thought he was.

“Carl Hall, and his leadership qualities – he and Dwayne Smith (guard, Toronto native who played for George Washington University) have been through the roof.”

The Lions as it stands right now appear to be a smaller, athletic, group something that Raso thinks could be a positive going forward.

“We won’t be the biggest, thickest, team so we’re going to have to rebound like crazy and we’re going to have to space the floor and make it as wide and long as we can,” Raso said.

“I think we’ll be playing a pretty entertaining type of basketball.”

Information about the Niagara River Lions opening night roster is available online at http://www.riverlions.ca/14528/river-lions-roster.